


Darker Nights

by lovegood27



Category: Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Character Death, Complete, District 11, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hunger Games Tributes, One Shot, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-28 03:06:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17174672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovegood27/pseuds/lovegood27
Summary: Rue has left home and her sister misses her, though her parents say it’s just to ‘play a game’. But nights have become darker in her absence and she just wants Rue to come back.





	Darker Nights

I hate night time- I find the dark scary. I don't like the way I can see odd shadows moving and the creaky noises I hear in my bedroom. Sometimes I can't fall asleep for ages because of it, and then it's even scarier because I'm the only one still awake and everyone else is sleeping, even Mummy and Daddy. It makes me feel very lonely when that happens. 

Before, if I was particularly scared and couldn't sleep, I would run to Rue's room and wake her up. I would cuddle with her while she sang me a quiet lullaby and I would feel better. I didn't do it very often, though, because I knew she still got a bit annoyed if I interrupted her sleep. 

Most of the time, I didn't need to. If I squeezed my eyes shut, I could pretend I was in a big sunny park and forget that it was dark. 

Then Rue left and everything felt very odd without her. She had made up all the games I would play with my siblings, and been the one to hold us if we ever hurt ourselves and cried. At mealtimes, there was still an empty chair where she used to always sit, which Mummy would always put a single lighted candle on. She would leave it lit until the wax was almost all melted and then replace it with a new one. She always took a long time doing it, as if she was trying to live in the moment. 

We all missed her and wanted her to come back. Mummy and Daddy had told me my brothers and sisters that she had just been chosen to play a game that was held every year, but I don't think it was a game. If it was, it didn't sound anywhere near as fun as the games we would play in the orchard trees. We have to go to the annual Reaping thingy where the players for the game are chosen, and when Rue was picked, she didn't look happy like she did whenever Mummy told us we could have a break from working and play a game of hide-and-seek. She looked terrified. 

I thought I had seen tears in her eyes but when I asked her if she was okay, she said she was fine and that it was just her hay fever. I had believed her then but now I think she might have been lying. 

With Rue away, I suddenly couldn't sleep properly. I would toss and turn for hours before I fell asleep, and then I would have bad nightmares. I couldn't go and find Rue anymore, so Mummy told me to come to her if I was afraid. She would sing like Rue did for me, but it wasn't really the same. I liked my sister's voice more because she sounded like an angel when she sang, and could calm me down instantly. I never told Mummy that, though. 

Tonight, the sky's filled with lots of twinkly stars and a big silver moon. Before I went to bed, I had pulled my curtains apart, hoping that the pretty sky would make the dark seem less scary. It did but I still can't sleep, for some reason. I think it's almost midnight already yet I don't even feel slightly sleepy. 

I decide to go and find Mummy and Daddy, so I slowly slide out of my bed and creep into their room. But the bed is empty; they haven't gone to sleep yet. 

I hear voices whispering downstairs, and I know it's them. I tiptoe down our wooden staircase and walk into the big open space which is the kitchen, dining room and living room all mushed into one. I can see Mummy and Daddy sitting on our comfy black sofas, but I notice that something's really wrong. They both look very sad; Mummy's got her head in her hands and sobbing loudly. Daddy's got his arm around her and trying to comfort her, but he keeps sniffling so I think he's crying too. 

"Don't cry," I say, padding over to them. I want them to stop because I don't like seeing Mummy and Daddy sad because then it makes me sad too. "Why are you upset?"

Mummy jumps a little, because she hasn't realised I'm here. She quickly wipes away her tears, but her eyes are still red and puffy. "Rosie, sweetheart, you should be in bed now. It's late."

"I can't sleep," I say, sitting down next to her. "Why were you crying? Did something bad happen?"

I see her look at Daddy with one of those looks grown ups give it each other. I don't like it when they do that- it's like they think I'm an idiot. Once I said that out loud and Mummy told me it was a bad word, but Rue says it all the time so I should be allowed to say it too. 

I see Daddy shake his head at Mummy, and then she clears her throat and tells me "It's nothing, darling. Go to bed, now. We can have those lovely apples you picked for breakfast tomorrow, alright?"

I know it's not nothing, but it doesn't seem like Mummy or Daddy want to tell me. Mummy comes upstairs with me and tucks me into bed, singing a song under her breath. I fall asleep a little while afterwards and forget everything.

* * *

We do have the apples I picked from the trees for breakfast the next day, just like Mummy said. But when I sit down in my usual chair next to Rue's I look at her candle that's in the seat. And I see that the it's fire isn't burning anymore- it's been put out.

**Author's Note:**

> I've finally written something that isn't Harry Potter! I've had an idea to write something about Rue for a long time so...here we are. Although the original plan was to write about Katniss grieving over Rue's death :P
> 
> I don’t think Rue's siblings are ever given any names (though I haven't read Mockingjay so I’m not sure) so I made up Rosie's name here.


End file.
